Chapter 17 - Arrival Of Angst

Anode and AX were traveling rather quickly along the roadways, their foot thrusters creating slight crevices in the earth. They had been gone from the base for only five minutes, and they were about a half hour away from where they had to be. They had to book it to get where they needed to be. Anode glanced over at AX, who nodded to him.

"AX, despite what we see, keep your cool when we get there, you understand me?"

"Of course, Anode. But what will I be seeing?"

"Hopefully nothing." AX stared at his partner for a moment, then shook his head and sunk a little lower to the ground, increasing the power input to his boot thrusters.

'Anode has been acting strange since we left.. I wonder what's really going on. Something big, if he doesn't want me to lose my cool. Usually he doesn't care..'

Anode noticed AX's power increase and settled in off to the side of him and behind, making sure AX's dust wake didn't cover him, like it would have if he were directly behind him. Anode closed his eyes, guiding himself on the sounds of AX's thrusters.

'... I can't tell him. Either way this turns out, if it's Alpha or it's Bread Man.. AX isn't going to be able to control himself, I know him too well to believe that he would.'

Piro lead Panic down the same road that they had been on the day before, both of them noticing where they had fallen to the Maverick that had attacked them. Both of them had been, in the end, jolted with volts of electricity at close range, and it had hurt them. Panic ran his fingers over his chest, where the scorch mark still was. Panic glanced ahead at Piro, shaking his head a little.

"That Maverick.."

"Yeah, I know. He was a dirty fighter."

"And cheap. Getting me over the overhand of a building."

"And dodging all my shots." Panic smirked, "Someone needs to get better aim is all."

"At least I TRIED to hit him, Mr. Out-In-One-Shot." Panic scoffed.

Piro sighed heavily and snatched his rifle from off his back, spinning it around in one hand. He turned his head to look back at Panic, who slipped his beam saber from its holster, igniting it and drawing the blade through the air.

"Panic, I'm going up. You stay down and keep going. Don't try and keep up. Meet at the battle site."

"You got it, Piro."

And Piro leapt up the side of a building, his boots breaking through the concrete in multiple places, causing that side of the building to crumble and fall. He easily made it from the falling building to the next without being in any imminent danger. Panic smirked and continued along the road, making his saber dance along the air slowly.

Anode and AX journey is brought to a hold, as they cut the power to their thrusters and slip to a stop, before a group of Mavericks. Anode quickly activated his dual-edged saber and leapt forward, spinning the saber around and cutting down a pair of Crushers, their spiked bottoms dropping and crashing into the ground, just as AX dashed past, his hand morphing into his normal buster.

"Anode!"

"I see the D-1000. Take out the weak ones first, then the big one!"

AX wove his body in and out between the holes of the Maverick Worms that began to tear through the surface. He spun around, cutting his dash off and sliding to a stop, firing off a volley of shots into the group of worms, their explodes making the holes bigger in the ground. Anode landed beside AX, his buster forming and firing off a medium size blast of plasma through an oncoming Crusher, blowing the shrapnel into the face of the D-1000.

"This is going to suck."

"Yup."

Something crept out from a dark alleyway, tentacles waving around aimlessly. It floated close to the ground, mere inches away from touching, but it never did. It's body was a hovering mass of tentacle and virus, and it was out for Reploid as its next meal. It wiggled its body forward slowly, the tentacles dragging across the wall, leaving an acidic liquid upon the wall, that immediately began to melt through the thick concrete and metal sheeting of the building.

AX spun around on the ground, using his saber to clip the spiked bottom of a Crusher, while Anode kicked off the face of another one and splitting the bottomless Crusher in half, the explosion propelling him upward. Anode drew his saber back and came hurtling down quickly, he swung the saber quickly, dealing the D-1000 a deadly cut to its massive face, tearing through the metal easily. AX followed up by leaping upward in a spiral motion, his saber following along a path parallel to that of Anode's and searing another gash into the massive Reploid's metal face.

"Want the honor, Anode?"

"I insist that you do it this time."

"Of course, milord." Anode smirked a little as AX bowed.

Anode turned and fired his buster straight into the fleeing form of the last Crusher, its body melting in the flash of plasma that flew into it and through it. As Anode did that, AX had activated his own special feature, the AX Drive. A azure visor slid down over his eyes, covering part of his face with a soft blue hue. The thrusters in his boots kicked in sharply and the dust on the ground flew up like a grenade blast. AX's form was a blur to Anode's eyes as the glowing blue saber was re-ignited and sent up through the bottom of the D-1000 countless times, each hole sparking loudly. AX appeared beside Anode, his AX Drive now deactivated, and the two watched as the massive Reploid sparked all along its surface and then tore in half, both pieces exploding loudly, a mushroom shaped cloud filtering upward into the air.

"Well, that was rather interesting," Anode noted, watching the cloud disperse into the sky.

"Why was it such a small force anyway?" AX turned to look at Anode, who uncrossed his arms, shrugging at the question, "Who knows, AX. But we need to be going."

"Right."

The two turned and were about to activate their dash boosters, when something like a mass of tentacles appeared from the darkened alley across the road. Anode squinted slightly, sighing a little as he drew out his saber once more. He glanced to AX, who did the same, sighing lightly as well.

"Guess we're not done quite yet, eh?"

"Let's get this over with quick."

The mass of tentacles crept forward at a much quicker pace than before. It had detected Reploids in the area and had forced its quivering mass to increase speed to get there before they got away. And to its luck, something had been there to incapacitate the two Reploids long enough for its arrival. A pair of lidless eyes stared at the two Reploids, one of a azure and silver color, the other of a onyx and smog color. It released its tentacles and sent them blazing toward its soon-to-be victims.

AX and Anode both dove to the side, opposite one another. AX saber had yet to be activated, and as he rolled to his feet, it was glowing brightly in his right hand. He dashed forward, the saber blazing up and out through the mass of tentacles, cleaving straight through its entire body. He watched the thing split apart and fall to the ground, quivering for a moment, before it ceased movement.

"Heh.. That was easy." AX turned and smirked at Anode, when something curled around his leg and held tightly, "The hell!?"

The two halves had reconstructed themselves into two new beings. Anode ran forward, his saber running straight through the 'helmet' of the mass of tentacles. AX stabbed through the tentacle wrapped around his leg and leapt away, growling angrily.

"Anode! Don't let it touch you. It releases acid!" Anode whipped his saber around in a spin, clipping through each tentacle sent at him, "Thanks for the warning, AX."

AX set his saber into its holster and morphed his right hand into a buster, glaring at the wiggling mass of tentacles coming toward him. He dashed straight at it, and as it released its tentacles toward him, he leapt upward, aiming his buster downward as he soared over it, he let lose a single charge shot, that took the being by surprise, vaporizing it within the plasma. The 'helmet' toppled to the ground, making soft 'tink' noises as it rolled around to a stop. AX slammed his foot down on top of it, crushing it into the ground. He turned his attention to Anode, who cleaved his in half, morphing his hand into a buster, vaporizing both sides with a single medium-shot. He turned and looked at AX, who smirked.

"Well.. That was interesting. I thought those had all been destroyed by X during the Nightmare outbreak."

"Apparently not. Let's get a move on, AX. No time to waste."

AX nodded and they both activated their dash boosters, spitting up the dust and dirt as they sped off down the road. Anode scowled to himself as he remembered having to fight the DNA Thieves during the Nightmare outbreak. AX made a diagnostic scan of his right foot, where the tentacle had wrapped around his leg, melting some of his armor.

'Gah.. The damn thing almost went all the way through. Glad I got rid of it as quick as I did..'

Panic glanced to the rooftops, noting that Piro had gotten so far ahead that he was unable to be seen. Panic only shrugged, letting his saber deactivate as he ran his finger along the switch. He wasn't paying attention to where he was going when he stumbled and tripped over something metal. As he flipped over the round object, he rolled to his feet, spinning around to see whatever it was.

"Crawlers?"

Before him were a group of three Crawlers, small bug-like robots that could curl up into balls and roll toward their enemies. They had hard shell-like armor that kept them from being harmed. The only way that they could be hurt was when they lifted the frontal piece of armor from their face and went to attack their opponent. Panic dove to the right, rolled to his feet, and then dove back to the left. He morphed his hand into a buster and sent a wave of plasma into the one Crawler that hadn't come after him, the bullets ripping into the uncovered face. It sparked for a moment and then exploded.

"I hate these things SO bad!"

Panic leapt backward as a Crawler came for him, spinning around beneath him and then shooting back at him once he landed. He dove toward the other one, his saber sliding in underneath the closing armor, tearing through the entire body. Panic quickly got to his feet and dashed away as it exploded, the smoke blocking his view of the last Crawler.

"Great.. Now wha-AAH!"

Panic's feet were clipped out from underneath him and he slammed face-first into the ground. The Crawler spun to a stop behind him, its sharp 'teeth' ready to tear into Panic's face mask when he shoved his buster up into its mouth, letting loose a slew of plasma shots straight up into it. The shots exploded out the thick shell on its back, causing it to spark and then explode, straight in Panic's face. He coughed a little, waving the smoke away.

"Ow."

Piro whipped around, the barrel of his rifle set against the ground. He had heard an explosion from where he had left Panic back down on the road. He scowled slightly, but shook his head and turned back the way he had come.

"Panic can take care of himself. He's a high-class Hunter after-all."

He glanced back at the sound of a second and third explosion, a loud thud between them. He turned and walked to the edge of the building he was standing on, waiting for Panic to appear from the smoke-covered road from the three explosions.

'Dammit Panic.. You better be okay, I don't want your death on my conscience..'

The sound of flapping wings caught his attention, forcing him to spring away from the side of the building. He flipped his rifle up and shot the Maverick Bird that flew past, ending its existence in a ball of flame and smoke. Three more rushed past, and the sounds of different kinds of wings came to Piro's ears. He turned and watched a small group of Bats come flying down, their metallic jaws gnashing. He crouched down and aimed, firing off three shots in succession, before rolling to the side, taking out one of the Birds with a blast. Two Bats and a Bird ruptured and exploded in air, their smoke curling up and away, random parts of them drifting to the ground,

'More annoying than a threat, I swear.. Whoever designed them was an idiot.'

Piro leapt back, dropping his rifle and punching forward quickly, slamming his fist into the beak of the oncoming bird, the connection crumpling the bird up like an accordion, exploding as it hit the ground at his feet. He kicked his rifle up into his hands and took the last Bird out as he took a sharp turn to come back and get him. The Maverick Bird slammed into the building, exploding sharply, the sounds of breaking bricks coming to Piro's attention.

"Ah shit.."

His feet became unsteady as the building began to quiver. He ran toward the edge of the building and leapt high, the building shaking rapidly. The bottom blew out from underneath it and dropped to the ground all at once. The destruction of the building sent up a cloud of dust, leaving Piro's sensors screaming at him for the visibility loss. The ground underneath his feet shifted and he watched a massive fist come down, and take out where he had just standing. He sailed through the air for a moment and landed a few feet away.

"Damn Quakers! Always a problem.."

Panic's dash thrusters were activated, and he was moving rapidly. He sped through the smoke, his saber creating an ominous blue glow within the particles. He drove the saber upward through the purple Reploid just about to slam its fist into the ground for another quake. The ensuing hole and gash sparking loudly as he leapt backward, his hand morphing into a buster and sending a wave of plasma straight into the hole he had made, ripping his internal systems apart. Panic turned and faced Piro as the Quaker exploded loudly behind him.

"Having fun without me, Piro?"

"Oh, of course.."

Fidget walked along slowly, the sounds of a battle reaching all their ears. He sighed a little and drew out his beam spear, activating the end. Bleu morphed her right hand into a buster and slowed down a bit, to get in the back of the fight. Orichalcon's right hand didn't morph, but a small panel slid open, and a laser appeared. Fidget watched this and smirked a little.

"I see you finally got that perfected, Orichalcon. Very nice."

"Nice to see you approve, Fidget."

Fidget turned back to look where they were walking and stopped, his two partners also stopping. Through the smoke two figures appeared, and Fidget laughed and smacked his hands together. Panic and Piro grinned sharply toward their lost friend.

"Hey, Fidget. Did you miss us?" Fidget only laughed, "How could I miss a pair of ugly faces like those?"

AX and Anode had increased the power to their thrusters to almost full capacity. The landscape was a blur of shapes and colors as they swept through the city. Anode tapped his gauntlet and pointed ahead, making a two with his fingers to indicate the time it should take. AX nodded and slid his body down into a more aerodynamic pose, with Anode following his example.

Alpha sighed heavily as he walked ahead of Mr. Death and Franco. Franco shuffled along behind the shorter Hunter, hefting Bread Man around a bit on his shoulder to make himself more comfortable. Mr. Death undid the clasp of his visor and slid it up, letting his eyes show. He gazed at the ground.

"What's that?"

Mr. Death raised his head and looked in the same direction that both Franco and Alpha were staring. Two streams of dust were heading in their direction, at an extremely quick pace. Alpha readied his saber in his right hand, just in case they were hostile. Mr. Death steadied his right arm with his left, his right hand morphed into a buster.

AX and Anode came to a screeching halt. AX's eyes were wider as he saw Bread Man's shattered form laid across Franco's shoulder. Anode turned his head to the side and closed his eyes, silently cursing himself for allowing them to take this mission on.

"What.. What happened?" AX's voice was shaky, but clear.

"We had.. Trouble." AX's eyes met Alpha's and AX asked again, "What happened, Alpha?"

"I killed him." AX's eyes darted to Mr. Death's, anger flooding his eyes, "HOW DARE YOU!"

AX leapt over Alpha and was on Mr. Death in a flash, his fist slamming directly into the face mask, shattering the visor covering Mr. Death's eyes. Anode grit his teeth, but he made no move to stop AX from doing this. He had his reasons, AX had been with Bread Man from the beginning, they had fought in multiple battles side by side, this was AX's way of paying tribute to all those years, though Anode highly doubted Bread Man would have wanted him to do it anyway.

"AX.." Alpha stepped away from AX, who was slamming his fist repeatedly straight into Mr. Death's maw.

Franco set Bread Man's limp form on the ground and leaped into the fray, grabbing hold of AX and wrenching him off of his brother-unit. AX lurched back slightly, but sent his elbow straight into Franco's jaw and then spun and hooked him in the cheek, sending him straight into the ground. Mr. Death just closed his eyes and let AX beat him for all he was worth.

AX finally stopped after a full five minutes had passed, his arms were weak and his hands were leaking coolant from the battering. Mr. Death laid a few feet from him, coughing lightly. His helmet was crushed and laid a little bit away from him. Franco went to help Mr. Death to his feet, coolant leaking from his mouth from where AX hit him.

"If.. It means.. Anything AX.. I didn't.. Mean to.." Mr. Death sputtered painfully, clutching his chest with his left hand, his right arm wrapped about Franco's shoulders, who was helping him along.

"Bread Man.. Is gone.." AX fell to his knees finally and just slumped there, despite all the anger he had released on Mr. Death for the death of one of his closest friends, it hadn't help him a bit.

Alpha walked over to where AX was and sat down next to him, setting his hand lightly on AX's back, patting lightly. Anode checked on Mr. Death to make sure he wasn't going to die from this, and nodded as Mr. Death turned out okay. Franco leaned his brother against a wall, and went and retrieved his ruined helmet.

"What a way to start, eh bro?"

"Your humor.. Isn't helping.. This hurts.. A lot.." Mr. Death grit his teeth and pushed himself up the wall.

"They'll forgive you eventually.. And they're going to repair you anyway. Just think of this as a initiation. A painful one."

"Why didn't you get the same one?" Franco gave a grin, "Because my charming good looks saved me, like usual."

Mr. Death laughed lightly, making sure not to laugh too hard that it hurt him. AX got to his feet and walked over to Mr. Death with Alpha and Anode. AX pushed a small capsule into Mr. Death's hand, nodding lightly.

"It's an energy capsule. You'll need it." Mr. Death looked up at AX, and smiled slightly, "Thanks.."